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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I also love Gottlieb's, but let's not get crazy

Gottlieb's, the sloppy kosher restaurant that hasn't been updated since maybe churban bayis rishon, seems to have received a nice mention in: Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen by David Sax:

"The air is thick with the warm vapor of boiling chickens," he writes of Gottlieb's in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. "A gentle clamor fills the ears; the clang of cutlery, a few gulps of liquid, the sizzle of fat on a hot surface."

(One quibble: I don't think Gottlieb's is a deli. They are famous for chicken, not pastrami.)

The above excerpt was discovered in an LA Times book review that is nicely written, but thick with stupid suggestions about the origins of deli meat and the significance of the store where it was sold. A delicatessen was never "a port in the stormy world, where, long before the birth of modern Israel, a Jew could find solace" nor does our alleged love for corned beef have anything to do with the destruction of the Temple, exile or ghettos. Likewise, the shuttering of the 2nd Avenue Deli in NY and the Rascal House in Miami are tragedies, perhaps, but not quite the same as the loss of the other two Temples.

My choice for the best kosher deli? Shmulka Bernstein's, of course, with a silver medal to Gotlieb's, and a bronze to the original King David in Cedarhurst.

If it relates to Jews, Judaism, holidays, Midrash,Torah, halacha or anything similar, I probably have a post on it. And if I have a post on it, I probably have a good comment thread with great reader-provided information, too.

Try a search and see for yourself. If you can't find what you're looking for ask me.

Quotes

רֹאשׁ דְּבָרְךָ אֱמֶת קוֹרֵא מֵרֹאשׁ דּוֹר וָדוֹר עַם דּוֹרֶשְׁךָ דְּרֹשׁ
Your chief word is "truth"; You've called it out since the beginning. In each generation people interpret You [for themselves] and find [their own] meaning.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you odd. -Flannery O'Connor

“When in the afterglow of religious insight I can see a way that is good for all humans as it is for me—I will know it is His way.” - R. Abraham Joshua Heschel

I don't accept at all the quite popular argument that the press is responsible for the monarchy's recent troubles. The monarchy's responsible for the monarchy's recent troubles. To blame the press is the old thing of blaming the messenger for the message. -Anthony Holden

Said behind my back

"...he's trying to show that there are other facets to Orthodox Judaism. That we don't all think one way and vote one way. And he's occasionally entertaining when he's not being mean-spirited" [PsychoToddler]"

"He's witty. He's funny. He appreciates the ridiculous in life, and has no qualms about telling you when he thinks that you're being a moron" [Cara]

" I'm pretty sure [DovBear] is a really great guy who just wants to be able to ask questions and talk about things without the fear of someone claiming he's off the derech or on his way there." [Chaviva]